1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the delivery of television programs over the Internet.
2. Prior Art
After the Internet gained popularity among consumers in the 1990""s, real time delivery of sound and motion video clips over the Internet were made possible. Initially, this so-called multimedia content was limited to crackling sounds and choppy videos that lasted for mere seconds. Rapid advances in picture compression and streaming technology, in combination with the increased availability of broadband connections, soon enabled the delivery of higher quality multimedia content of much longer duration. The technology has mature enough to even enable the delivery of television over the Internet. The interactive nature of the Internet further enables different television programs to be delivered to different users or viewers.
For example, a method for dynamically regulating Internet television content is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,683 to Cragun et al. The content or programming is automatically selected for the viewer based on the viewer""s profile and past viewing habits. However, the user has little control over the television programs being supplied and their scheduling. Since what is desired by the viewer is merely estimated, many of the programs provided may not be desirable to the viewer at all.
Accordingly, the objectives of the present Internet television system and method are:
to deliver television programs and other content over the Internet;
to enable each user to select different types or genres of programs for delivery;
to enable each user to receive the selected genres according to a user selected schedule;
to provide the users with an easy-to-use interface;
to automatically select a specific program for each genre chosen by the user;
to automatically insert default programs in time slots not filled by the user;
to automatically intersperse scheduled programs with ads;
to automatically update a database with information on watched programs and ads; and
to enable each user to create a virtual television channel with custom programming.
Further objectives of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
The present Internet television system and method are comprised of defining different program types or genres, and categorizing available television programs into different genres. Each program is associated with a description which includes the assigned genre. The programs are encoded for streaming over the Internet and stored on servers. A Web site is provided for users to access the programs with a client computer. A scheduler is provided on a Web page at the site. The scheduler is comprised of a plurality of timeslots for each day of the week arranged into a grid. A plurality of different program genre icons corresponding to the genres are arranged adjacent the grid. A user can build a personalized program schedule by dragging the genre icons with a pointer into selected timeslots. A genre icon can be removed from a timeslot by dragging it into a wastebasket icon. The entire grid can be cleared of all icons by clicking a reset-schedule icon. After the user has finished setting up the schedule, a set-my-schedule icon is clicked to save the schedule to a database. Any blank timeslots are populated later with a default schedule. Programs which have not been watched, or least watched and long ago by the user are automatically selected for the scheduled genres and streamed to the client computer. The programs are allocated to the time available for each genre. Ads are interspersed between the programs. The database is updated with information on the programs and ads watched.